Welcome, Jackson Navarro!  Jackson joins our preschool this week as a 3 year old in Mrs. Bergman's class.  We are excited to welcome the Navarro's to the STS family!

Congratulations to our confirmandi!  Bishop Kane confirmed our 8th grade students on Saturday.  In hi s homily, he encouraged the young men and women to know their faith, live their faith, to pray, and to celebrate their faith by attending Mass each Sunday.  He reminded them that sometimes it will be hard to live up to the demands of the Faith, but not to worry because from now on they have the Holy Spirit to be there and guide them and will never leave them alone.  Congratulations to our students and all the newest "fully initiated" members of our parish!

Catholic Schools Week has been fun!  Open House was wonderful on Sunday.  I hope everyone was able to visit the classrooms and spend some time in the Book Fair!  The kids are enjoying the daily activities and the Acts of Kindness boards are quickly filling up.  The kids are enjoying the daily changes to the uniform - Fr. Tim

 actually started laughing mid-blessing when he spotted some of the crazy socks on Tuesday!  A special thanks to the Parents Association for all their work making this week great!

February is also Dental Health Month!  The preschool and primary students received a visit from Dr. Nakfoor who told them how to keep their teeth clean and healthy and provided them with brand new toothbrushes!

On Tuesday and Wednesday the students had their throats blessed. This Sacramental is performed on the Feast of St. Blase, February 3, and is a prayer for freedom from diseases of the throat.  The preschoolers were a bit nervous at first, but felt better when Deacon Steve explained that we don't light the candles we place on their throats for the blessing!

Believe it or not, the sacred season of Lent begins next week.  To guide our Lenten prayer and to unite ourselves with the Parish Transformation process of the parish as a whole, the students will be engaging in a children's Parish Transformation process -the first ever in the Archdiocese.  Fr. Ron has created a course of study for the children where they will learn about the church centered on the person of Jesus Christ and the Eucharist, the role of the parish, and our personal role in evangelization and catechesis.  At the end of Lent, the children will have the opportunity to identify areas of growth and ways in which they can be more active members of our parish! 

Our St. Theresa Lenten focus is the St. Vincent DePaul society who provides for the poor and needy in our area.  Children will have the opportunity to give alms to the St. Vincent DePaul society at Ash Wednesday Mass next week.  Envelopes will be sent home with the children to fill as they deem appropriate.  We will take up a collection at mass and the children can contribute their envelopes at that time. All parents and family members are invited to join us for Ash Wednesday Mass at 8 am in the church!  Please feel free to bring young children - it's a family Mass and family noise is just another prayer of the Mass!

We are also collecting palms for our first ever Rite of Palm Burning.  Fr. Tim will celebrate this rite of palm burning with the children on Tuesday, February 9.  Please send in your old palms so we have enough to burn.  There will be collection bins in the church gathering space and in the front hall of school.

A quick calendar clarification Monday, March 28 (Easter Monday) is a regular day of school for us.  It is a Drive Day.  Remember we miss some of these normal holidays because school ends early this year on Friday, May 27.

 

Enjoy the Super Bowl weekend...Cubs Spring Training starts in 23 days...this really, truly, could be the year!